What is the worst thing you have seen someone do and considered it training? Did you do anything about it? I am just wondering because I have boarded at many different ranches and seen many different things and man so of the ways people think they are training there horses just makes me want to scream.

One of my stories is I was boarding at a big ranch and there was this man and his three young sons out almost every time I was there. He would always watch me ride and then try and tell me what I should and should not do mind you he was not a trainer he just had two horses of his own. Well I startedto notice that one of his horses a 3 year old stallion was being housed in his two horse trailer. I got the balls up and asked him why he was keeping him in there and he said he was teaching him to be used to trailers and tarps and to calm his hormons. We I thought ok a few hrs wont hurt but the next day I went out the horse is still in there and there is now a tarp tied to one side of the trailer flapping around the horse is totally scared and had no food no water and is just slamming from side to side. I talkedto a few other people who did not seem to care at all and then the BO who said it was no big deal and to mind my own business well the horse was locked in there for three days. I called animal control took my horse and left. I was told that the day I left He took the horse out and tied him down in the areana and covered him with a trap from head to toe untill he was covered in sweat and gave up fighting to stand up then the released him and said he was now trained and would never be scared of a tarp again... SO sadI don't know what ever happened after that

Wow, what an idiot. Maybe somebody should cut off his balls both the guy and the horse. Poor thing.

Well, one of my stories was not too long ago...

I was at a AQHA show with a friend. We were in the barn at MSU and we just sat around talking, etc. When she was going to go outside and warm her horse up. We had to go to the outdoor arena, since the indoor was being in use for the shows. I went out there with her, for the most part I like watching people train horses and trainers training their clients, etc. But this trainer....Oh my gosh I was SO close to slapping him. So my friend went out and lunged her horse for a couple minutes and this horse came loping around the corner. What caught me was his WIDE OPENED EYE. He looked terrified. The trainer had him in a curb bit (without a curb chain I should add) and he was cranking his horse's head up. What I was thinking is that he was trying to get the horse to be tired from holding his head high that he'll hang it low. So he was loping him for a very long time and kept cranking his head high. Not only that but the poor thing was dripping blood from his sides because the poor excuse of a trainer kept slapping him with the spurs. I felt so sorry for that horse. I was about to go give that guy a piece of my mind, but it just wasn't a good idea. Especially with the amount of people that guy had I probably would've been kicked out.

Well.. as many ways as one can be cruel people are. Have seen a lot.. Cranking on horses with long shanked curb bits.. hitting a horse over the head when it reared.. tying a horse hard and fast to a pick up truck and driving down the lane to "teach" the horse not to "pull back" and whipping a horse to pull a cart faster and the horse is at its limit. And then the books that actuallycondone this crap.. well it is a long list.

A couple off the top of my head. Friend of mine got a thin, weedy mare.. OTTB.. and wanted to make her a jumper. The horse had not "let down" and she was totally frustrated with the horse.. and was already jumping her. We were riding and I had her "good horse" (a hard mouthed gelding she made that way.. I suspect). So.. she is whipping this horse over fences and the horse is head up and back hollow and I suggested we swap horses. I got on said mare and let her have all the rein she wanted.. and she wanted it all. Rode her around on the buckle at a walk and then we picked up a trot and I pointed her at a jump and she sailed over as pretty as could be.. on the buckle. My friend's Mother told my friend she could learn something from me. Have to laugh.. it was the last time I was asked to ride with her.

Another one I recall seeing was aboutr 5 years ago. A guy was training a horse to jump and the horse was totally unbalanced in the ring. I was driving by and noticed this.. (was working at the time) and I stopped to watch (the horse was head up.. back hollow) and he pointed the horse at a jump and the horse refused (met it all wrong with a high head and a hollow back). The "trainer" rode the horse up to the jump and was whipping the horse.. Horse was made to face the jump and was rearing and had wall eyes.. Finally, from a stand still, this horse (to her credit) jumped what was a good 3'6" jump with the whip to her flank. She was lathered head to toe.. and I wondered exactly what he was trying to teach her. It was pretty barbaric... and way stupid.

Of all the things that I have seen done, and there have been some bad ones (ever heard of "slam dunking" a horse?), the thing that made me the most angry was at an AQHA show. In the warm up ring, I saw this lovely bay mare being ridden by a young girl, maybe 14 or 15. The girl had a huge, bumper bit in the horses mouth with draw reins and was just yanking and popping the snot out of that mare's mouth. The horse was going around at a sorry imitation of a working trot with her head curled most of the way towards her chest. This happened about 4 years ago, but it has stuck with me because of how young the rider was. The horse absolutely looked defeated like she was used to being hammered on.

Seen more than my fair share and have used them all as 'what not to do' guide......some people are sick and karmas a bitch......
I don't like reading about this stuff and think others don't either so I will save someone the horror of a few of my stories......
It's a good thread for people who are 'cruelty virgins' though.....

I was at a open horse show I decided to watch every show Drafts under saddle, draft harness,QH WP,English pleasure, & the TWH's.

When It came to the TWH's there was only 2 horses in that show.
One of them was being ridden nicely the way I imagine a TWH should be ridden.
The other was walking like it should have been in a big lick show. The man riding this horse was yanking & yanking the bit & it appeared to me as if his horse was doing what he was asking. At the end of the show when they lined up for ribbons this horse was slobbering & its mouth was pouring the blood. A judge even made a comment to they guy about it. Anyways the guy won first place. Kinda made me mad but I just kept my mouth shut. Haven't watched the Walker show again

Also at a parade I was at this guy decided to warm up his horse around where everyone's trucks & trailers were parked & people were saddling horses. Well the lot was full he was running the crap out of this horse & causing it to get spooked from him screaming Get Up Get up & smacking it. It took off & almost took out a few other horses. Needless to say I didnt ride close to him.

There was also a guy riding a horse bareback. He brought his horse down a different street to join the parade & was bragging about how this was this stallions first ever ride & he was doing great. After I just watched the horse rear up & kick out at other horses & he just said it took him forever to unload the horse & get on. & that he almost missed the parade. Tell me who gives a horse its first ride during a parade where there are hundereds of childen around. I told him keep him away from my mare because she **HATES*** stallions & she will kick him in the face if he gets close to her. I also told him that this was my first parade & I was nervous enough so don't get him close enough to my mare to make her mad. He kept staying behind her. She never minded other horses but if a stallion got near her she had it out for them

I've never seen anything particularly shocking, but most of the training methods that had me covering my eyes in horror involved incorrect use of sidereins. There were two young horses that died because they were cranked up in sidereins on the lunge and panicked, reared and fell over, breaking their necks, but I thankfully didn't have to witness either incident. Plenty of people using drawreins too, kids taking their tempers out on their ponies etc.

Probably the most upsetting thing for me was a little warmblood weanling one person brought in - he spent his days locked in a stable with a grill over the front to prevent people from patting him, and was so scared and miserable. He reared and got his foreleg caught in the water bucket, and brought the grill down on top of him. No permanent physical damage done but the poor little thing was so shaken up. I really hate grills on stables, makes them even smaller and more claustrophobic.

A well known Dressage Rider, Warmblood Breeder/Importer, and competitor around here has some interesting methods.

At a young horse competition, said person's young stallion was being a little resistant through his test.
He was put in a tiny yard straight after the test (no warm down, no hose/sponge etc. - was still blowing from exercise on a very hot day), placed in draw reins and had them strapped so tightly that his chin was tied to his chest. By the time he was seen by another competitor, he had begun foaming up all over his body, his eyes were rolling, mouth gaping and he was breathing heavily.
This 'person's' reasoning: "To teach him to give to the bit".

A well known Dressage Rider, Warmblood Breeder/Importer, and competitor around here has some interesting methods.

At a young horse competition, said person's young stallion was being a little resistant through his test.
He was put in a tiny yard straight after the test (no warm down, no hose/sponge etc. - was still blowing from exercise on a very hot day), placed in draw reins and had them strapped so tightly that his chin was tied to his chest. By the time he was seen by another competitor, he had begun foaming up all over his body, his eyes were rolling, mouth gaping and he was breathing heavily.
This 'person's' reasoning: "To teach him to give to the bit".

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.